Man suspected of shooting Philly cop nabbed

Police, SWAT officers and U.S. marshals swarmed onto a sliver of Potter Street in Kensington yesterday morning, near the rattling El, to arrest one of two men suspected of shooting at two police officers, injuring one, in a gunbattle last week.

Neighbors yesterday said that the house where suspected shooter Anel Cuenas, 27, was arrested about 4:45 a.m., was the scene of a shooting a year ago and that they have seen various people go in and out of the house.

"This is really a bad neighborhood," said one woman on Potter Street near Ontario in Kensington's Harrowgate section. "When I hit the lottery, I'm out of here. Believe me."

Earlier yesterday, Deputy Police Commissioner William Blackburn said at a news conference that authorities were led to the house after looking into various leads. Cuenas was staying with family members in the house, he said.

Cuenas initially resisted arrest and fled, Blackburn said, and received a minor injury to his face during the escape attempt.

Cuenas is believed to have been one of three men in a white van stopped by Officer Kevin Livewell and his partner in Kensington about 8:30 p.m. Thursday on Water Street near Indiana Avenue, about a mile away from where he was arrested.

The 24th District officers had stopped the van because of a report of "men with guns," police have said.

After the van stopped, the two passengers immediately fired on the officers, then fled, police said. One passenger is believed to have been Cuenas. Police said the other shooter is still on the lam.

As the two shooters ran away, they discarded an AK-47 rifle, an SKS rifle and a Glock 9 mm pistol, police said. Those weapons have been recovered, as have two other rifles and three other handguns found in the van.

Livewell, 30, was hit in the right leg during the shoot-out. He is still at Temple University Hospital and is expected to be released within the next few days.

The van driver was arrested at the scene by Livewell's partner - identified by a police source as Officer Brian Issel.

Yesterday, police identified the driver as Ramon DeJesus, 36. He was charged with two counts of attempted murder, aggravated assault and assault on a police officer, and with a count of conspiracy.

Blackburn said Cuenas would face the same charges.

DeJesus' last known address is on Hasbrook Avenue near Cheltenham in Crescentville. Yesterday, neighbors on the tidy, well-kept block of twin homes said they did not know him.

DeJesus was twice arrested earlier this year in separate drug cases and faces trial in those cases, according to court records.

Cuenas is awaiting trial in two drug-possession cases from 2007. He has previously pleaded guilty to drug-related charges from 2001 and '02 arrests and has spent time in prison, court records show.

The Fraternal Order of Police and the U.S. Marshals have announced a total of $15,000 for the arrests of the two shooters. Blackburn yesterday would not say if anyone would receive a reward for Cuenas' arrest. Tipsters should call homicide at 215-686-3334.